Opening pathway to Tier One status will benefit state
By David W. Leebron, R. Bowen Loftin and William Powers Jr. | Published Thursday, October 29, 2009
We, the leaders of Texas' only Tier One universities, are proud that all Texans will have the opportunity to go to the polls Nov. 3 and vote on Proposition 4, the Tier One constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot.
Proposition 4 provides a pathway for other Texas emerging research universities to reach Tier One status. It converts a now dormant state fund into the National Research University Fund that will be available to any of seven Texas universities that meet high standards set by the Legislature: Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Significantly, Proposition 4 does not require any new taxes or bonds and puts to work money that today is not benefitting any Texas university.
In contrast to our three Texas Tier One universities, California has nine and New York, six. Even Pennsylvania, with about half the population of Texas, has more than our state with four. Because of this, Texas leaves an estimated $3.7 billion in federal research and venture capital dollars on the table because we do not have enough top tier research universities. And in a "brain drain," more than 10,000 Texas high school students leave the state every year to attend doctoral granting institutions elsewhere, in part because Texas does not offer them enough Tier One alternatives.
One of the hallmarks of a Tier One university is its spending on research and the accompanying benefits to the economy. Economists estimate that research expenditures trigger an economic multiplier effect that can result in as much as a 226 percent return on that investment. Research expenditures create jobs, add wages to the economy and generate tax revenues.
Additional Texas Tier One universities will add to the strength of Rice, Texas A&M and UT Austin, providing opportunities for collaboration and partnerships to stimulate research and bring home additional research grants.
We are proud that the Legislature has placed Proposition 4 before the people of Texas and look forward to the voters' consideration of it Nov. 3.
Leebron is president of Rice University, Loftin is interim president of Texas A&M University and Powers is president of the University of Texas at Austin.
